DEVIL DIES ON SUNDAY

Several of the weekend’s top films didn’t do quite so well as studios had estimated on Sunday, but they did far better than industry analysts had forecast on Friday — most notably the No. 1 film, The Devil Inside, which wound up with $33.7 million — twice as much as the most optimistic predictions. (It opened on Friday with $16.8 million, dropped to $11.8 million on Saturday, then fell to just $5.2 million in Sunday.) In its fourth week, Paramount’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, also performed above expectations, dropping just 32 percent to $19.9 million, and bringing its total domestic gross to $169.6 million. In third place was Warner Bros.’ Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which brought in $13.7 million in its fourth week. Overall, the box office was up a whopping 28 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when True Grit led with $14.6 million.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. The Devil Inside, Paramount Insurge, $33,732,515, (New); 2. Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, Paramount, $19,868,059, 4 Wks. ($169,568,971); 3. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Warner Bros., $13,689,321, 4 Wks. ($157,049,382); 4. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Sony, $11,364,714, 3 Wks. ($76,900,628); 5. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, 20th Century Fox, $9,496,913, 4 Wks. ($111,585,367); 6. War Horse, Disney, $8,679,470, 3 Wks. ($56,904,682); 7. We Bought a Zoo, 20th Century Fox, $8,305,797, 3 Wks. ($56,399,906); 8. The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, Paramount, $6,727,740, 3 Wks. ($62,008,015); 9. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Focus, $5,478,521, 5 Wks. ($10,129,670); 10. The Darkest Hour, Summit, $3,124,316, 3 Wks. ($18,690,605).